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lol actually get a kick out of the USA Celtics losing this year. Can we finally stop hyping those guys all over ESPN? Ditto for Kris Middleton, a glorified catch and shoot guy?

This is why the Sixers will win the East but honestly the whole conference probably peaked last year.

My daughter texted me this morning. "They lost by ten points. Pretty shocking...but not shocking to Raptors fans that a team full of Celtics and Bucks couldn't pull it off when it counts." Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

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My daughter texted me this morning. "They lost by ten points. Pretty shocking...but not shocking to Raptors fans that a team full of Celtics and Bucks couldn't pull it off when it counts." Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

This team had max players and future max players and excuse for losing is a lot of players said no .. This roster had a team good enough to dominate and they lost .

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Did we learn that just having a team of NBA players doesn't guarantee you a medal ? There are other ingredients required .

I would be curious did any American on this team even play a FIBA game before ? The Americans under 19 team is usually non future NBA stars

It seems like coaching for the Americans has been pretty poor for some time now... it doesn't help that Pop has to balance a bunch of egos and guys who probably aren't wholly invested but you would still expect good rotations and a semblance of defensive cohesion, neither of which you get. The Americans seem to have become complacent.

I think if Nurse gets the right guys to buy into the program he can be one of the top coaches on the international stage. IMO he's already shown he's a top coach in the NBA. His ability to handle egos and inspire his team is just as valuable as his strategic mind is, especially when it comes to NBA players.

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It seems like coaching for the Americans has been pretty poor for some time now... it doesn't help that Pop has to balance a bunch of egos and guys who probably aren't wholly invested but you would still expect good rotations and a semblance of defensive cohesion, neither of which you get. The Americans seem to have become complacent.

I think if Nurse gets the right guys to buy into the program he can be one of the top coaches on the international stage. IMO he's already shown he's a top coach in the NBA. His ability to handle egos and inspire his team is just as valuable as his strategic mind is, especially when it comes to NBA players.

I see Ginobili at the World Cup cheering his team on ... It would be nice if Nash was there but I guess that is asking too much .. Those are the little things that can help the big picture /

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If we can't beat Brazil, Dominican, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela, then we definitely don't deserve to go the Olympics. I fully expect we'll get the big guns for this Qualifier.

I feel like I read or inferred from one of guyroch's links that we won't be playing exclusively the Americas, but that any teams from around the world not already qualified will be divided into 4 groups and play each other. So we could be up against European, Asian and African teams as well. If that's the case... we have to hope we avoid who? ... Greece, Lithuania, Serbia maybe...